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Spinning Deer Hair
Hello again all!!! I need a little bit of advise concerning deer hair poppers and Dahlberg Divers.
First of all, I have gotten some of the nack for spinning deer hair. My problem is that I have a few pro tied flies and for some reason I can't seem to stack the deer hair as tightly as the pros do. i know I am not a pro, but would like to make something a little closer than what I have been doing.
I am tying size 8 type flies, and with the help of the deer hair packer, I can get quite a bit on the hook. I just can't seem to make a decent head when cutting it. By this I am meaning tight looking. I can make the head right, but for som reason to make it look "solid" I have to cut the hair down to almost nothing.
So with that info, could I be using hair that isn't thick enough? Am I just not putting enough hair on at a time when spinning? I am using the bottom of the hair and cutting of the tips to the lengths I may use, am I cutting the tips off to much? Let's say that I want to make a tapered head from rear to forward, should I spin shorter hair at the front, or should I leave it long and cut it off after spinning to get a more solid look??
I can make poppers and divers somewhat well, but after cutting and leaving a decent size head, the head still looks ... "hairy" would still be the right label. I have tried using razor blades, and have to cut the thing so short it doesn't seem big enough to work right. I just can't seem to get what I feel is not being able to pack the hair enough. I don't think it is lack of pressure, I have actually bent 2 hooks lately from packing and had to rebend the straight.
Also, I use 2 loose loops, then tighten to flair hair, use 1 or 2 more loops to make sure it is fully flaired, pack hair with tool, then use a wrap or two infront of the hair (pulling it rear as best I can) and then moving thread forward for another spinning proceedure.
Any help would be appreciated!!!
Thanks,
Reg
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Purchase Chris Helm's video - Best investmemnt you can make. This video will save you countless hours of frustration.
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You know what I have the same exact problem. And I cant figure it out either. No matter the amount of hair or amount of tension I place on the thread when wrapping, or the tightness of the wrap. I just cant figure it out and my poppers all have that hairy patchy look to it not smooth and dense as in pictures I see. Besides the video does any one have some suggestions now? Thanks!!
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Reg,
Although I'm not an expert, what I like to do to get my bugs "fuller" is spin and then stack. For example, after spinning a bundle of hair, without moving the thread forward, stack another bundle of hair on top of the spun hair. I use this technique when I'm tying poppers and divers in order to get a fuller collar and popper "face".
For the area where the diver collar is going to be, I spin the first clump of hair and then stack a couple more clumps on top of that. For the "face" of a popper, I'll usually spin the final clump of hair and then stack two more clumps on top of it.
Hope this helps,
Regards,
Alberto
[This message has been edited by Alberto (edited 15 February 2005).]
[This message has been edited by Alberto (edited 15 February 2005).]
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I have several lessons with photos on my site about how to work with, spin, stack and trim deer hair. One of the flies that I show is the Dahlberg Diver.
Here are the addresses if you are interested:
Working with Deer Hair [url=http://www.branhamssaltwaterflytying.com/flytying/lessons/workingwithdeerhair.asp:8ea8f]http://www.branhamssaltwaterflytying.com/flytying/lessons/workingwithdeerhair.asp[/url:8ea8f]
Stacking Deer Hair - [url=http://www.branhamssaltwaterflytying.com/flytying/lessons/stackingdeerhair.asp:8ea8f]http://www.branhamssaltwaterflytying.com/flytying/lessons/stackingdeerhair.asp[/url:8ea8f]
Trimming Deer Hair - [url=http://www.branhamssaltwaterflytying.com/flytying/lessons/trimminghdeerhair.asp:8ea8f]http://www.branhamssaltwaterflytying.com/flytying/lessons/trimminghdeerhair.asp[/url:8ea8f]
Fly Example 1 - [url=http://www.branhamssaltwaterflytying.com/flytying/lessons/trimming1.asp:8ea8f]http://www.branhamssaltwaterflytying.com/flytying/lessons/trimming1.asp[/url:8ea8f]
Fly Example 2 - [url=http://www.branhamssaltwaterflytying.com/flytying/lessons/trimming2.asp:8ea8f]http://www.branhamssaltwaterflytying.com/flytying/lessons/trimming2.asp[/url:8ea8f]
Hope that these will help you.
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Joe Branham
http://www.branhamssaltwaterflytying.com
flytyer@branhamssaltwaterflytying.com
"The only stupid question is the one for which you do not seek an answer."
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One thing that I've noticed when I'm with Chris Helms is that he half hitchs after adding each amount of hair before he packs. That way nothing comes loose with just the weight of the bobbin. He finishs the fan or flat front of the fly with a coating of Bond 527 cement to make it stiff.
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Bill
[This message has been edited by William Fitzgerald (edited 16 February 2005).]
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Reg,
All the advice you've gotten is good.
The 'key' is practice, though.
Without seeing exactly what you are doing, we can't tell if you are using too much hair, not enough hair, poor quality hair, wrong hair, wrong thread, etc..
ALL of these can cause the problems you are having.
If you don't know personally a good hair spinner, then the Helms video is good place to start. As are the instructions on Joe's sight.
Still, we ALL do it a bit differently, and you'll have to spend some time playing with it to find the balance of all the variables to get the correct procedure for YOU.
Well worth the time. AND those 'scraggly' bugs will still catch fish.
By the way, don't expect to get as good as those girls spinning for Umpqua. I've watched a video on that, and I've never seen ANYONE that can spin a bug as tight or trim it as well as they can. They do spin several hundred EVERY week for YEARS, though, so it's understandable.
Good Luck!
Buddy
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